Brown University

A Nepalese scholar at Brown University is using his international development expertise and personal knowledge of the country to help guide relief efforts after a major earthquake.

Atul Pokharel is a postdoctoral fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute. He studies development and infrastructure in Nepal, which is where he’s from. And when the earthquake shook his country, he decided to put his knowledge to work. He launched a web site that would answer three key questions for people looking for ways to help.

Brown University has announced its list of honorary doctorate recipients, and the majority are women.

One recipient, Kathryn Sullivan, was the first American woman to walk in space. Sullivan also helped launch the Hubble Telescope.

Anthropologist Louise Lamphere will also be honored. Lamphere challenged Brown with a sexual discrimination suit when the university denied her tenure in the 1970’s. The lawsuit led Brown to establish new hiring procedures for women.

A Brown task force on sexual assault has completed its recommendations for the university. They’re aimed at improving the way the university responds to complaints of sexual violence.

The task force urges Brown to adopt a single policy on sexual assault, dating violence, harassment and stalking. The group says the university should centralize the process for handling complaints in a single office.